Golf is a game for perfectionists. No matter how good a drive, putt or round may be, true golfers can always envision a better one.

So it’s no surprise that Monte Vista High School’s girls golf team, last year’s East Bay Athletic League and North Coast Section champions, hoped to have an even better season in 2007.

“Our goal (was) to do good in NCS and get to Norcal,” said Jordan Ontiveros, the Mustangs’ No. 2 golfer.

“Our goal is to stay in the top three and we’ll be fine.”

The Mustangs started 2007 off on a high note when they faced Granada at Las Positas, as their top five players shot an EBAL record 195.

“Setting a league record, that was fun to do against Granada, who has a great team this year,” Mustangs head coach Alexander Allen said. “It was the first time an EBAL team broke 200 on a par 36.”

That record-breaking day gave hope that 2007 would be an even better year, and in some ways it has been. Last year the Mustangs went 11-1 in league play, their only loss at top contender Amador Valley. This season, Monte Vista went 14-0 in its EBAL regular season matches, including winning at Amador Valley by 17 strokes.

“When we beat Amador it was like ‘Oh my God, I’m so happy.’ We didn’t have any more stress,” Ontiveros said.

That feeling of relief was short-lived however, as Amador Valley gained revenge in the postseason EBAL tournament, edging the Mustangs by two strokes.

Monte Vista had already locked up a berth in the NCS tournament, but it fell short in its attempt to repeat as NCS champs. The Mustangs took second place overall at Tilden Park on Oct. 29, finishing two strokes behind Alameda.

Even though the Mustangs didn’t win at NCS, they played well enough to move on to the NCGA/CIF Championships, where another finish in the top three will earn Monte Vista a chance to play for the state title. Last year the Mustangs fell short at the NCGA Tournament, the main performance they wanted to improve upon this year.

“We played decent, I think we got fourth or fifth,” Allen said. “Outside the top three by a handful of strokes, but motivation for this year.”

Monte Vista is a fairly young team, but a senior, Jane Lee, is the Mustangs’ No. 1 golfer.

“She’s improved at least a couple strokes and she remains the most consistent player as well,” Allen said. Right behind Lee is Ontiveros, a junior.

“(Ontiveros) has a whole lot of talent. She drives the ball incredibly far,” said Allen. “I think she chips better than any girl I’ve ever seen.”

Golfers have always found interesting places to practice chipping. Tiger Woods used to chip up onto his dormitory bed during his freshman year at Stanford. Ontiveros is no exception.

“I love chipping, I will go out for hours and do random little chips,” Ontiveros said. “I actually get the bucket and chip into my pool. I have floating flags around my pool and I chip into those.”

The other traveling members of the team for Monte Vista include Becky Miller, Sara Banke, Stephanie Hsieh and Erin Bowser.

Hsieh is one of the many talented freshmen that have given the team a boost this year — and not just in the scoring department.

“They’re really great, since they’ve joined our team our team’s been nonstop enjoyable,” Ontiveros said. “They’re young and spontaneous girls who want to do good and want to improve.”

Now Monte Vista hopes it has improved enough as a team to finish in the top three at the NCGA/CIF tournament on Nov. 5. It’s just the latest challenge in their ongoing quest for perfection.

Steve Berman started his sportswriting career as a stringer covering high school football for the Bay Area News Group in 2005. In 2008 he started Bay Area Sports Guy, which would eventually become the largest independent site covering sports in the region. You can find him at @BASportsGuy.

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